Santa Clara stuns Tech 61-56

Published: Sunday, December 31, 2000

From staff and wire reports

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara's Becki Ashbaugh hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds remaining to give her team the lead Saturday, and propelled the Texas Tech women's basketball team to its second loss of the season, 61-56.

Ashbaugh's trey broke a tie and gave the Broncos a 59-56 lead. Missed shots by Tech's Natalie Ritchie and Plenette Pierson in the final 30 seconds, followed by a pair of free throws from Santa Clara's Caroline Gruening, ended any hopes of a last-second comeback by the Lady Raiders (9-2).

''It was a big win for us,'' said Ashbaugh, whose team toppled a Top 25 club for the first time since Dec. 19, 1994 against Washington.

''We proved to ourselves that we could play.''

Ashbaugh, who finished with a game-high 17 points, was an unexpected hero for the Broncos (8-3). She entered the contest hitting just 24.3 percent of her field-goal attempts while averaging 8.1 points per game. Her clutch bucket, however, helped give Santa Clara its first win over a ranked team in six years and snapped Tech's four-game winning streak in the process.

Associated Press Photo

''This was a huge win for us to beat a ranked team like Texas Tech,'' Broncos coach Chris Denker said. ''This will help us define our identity. We're going to learn from this.''

Tech struggled to mount a consistent offensive attack for much of the game. After opening with a 5-0 lead, the Lady Raiders watched as Santa Clara went on a 18-6 run. During the stretch, Tech hit just 3 of 12 shot attempts while the Broncos made 7 of 9.

The Broncos managed to hold onto their margin to halftime, where they led 34-27 thanks to an Ashbaugh 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Lady Raiders showed signs of life in the second half, as they chipped away at the deficit. Amber Tarr eventually gave Tech a 41-39 lead with a long jumper midway through the half.

Santa Clara refused to wilt, however. The Broncos retook a 52-51 lead with 4 minutes 34 seconds remaining on a Julie Butler lay-up. They extended their lead to three points when Gruening hit a bucket with three minutes left.

Jia Perkins helped give Tech life, making a steal and a lay-up to cut the lead to 54-53 a minute later. But Ashbaugh answered back with another bucket to pump the Broncos' lead to 56-53 with 1:55 remaining.

Ritchie rejuvenated the Lady Raiders 20 seconds later when she canned a 3-pointer to tie the game again. She later missed another trey with the game still tied, however, setting up Ashbaugh's last-minute heroics.

''We deserved to lose because we didn't play well enough,'' Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. ''We had a total breakdown. We have to know how to hold these challenges off. This will have to serve as a wake up call.''